September 14, 2026: The crescent moon appears near Venus after sunset while Jupiter and Mars shine before sunrise. Saturn nears opposition, Uranus is easy to locate near the Pleiades, and Neptune remains a challenging binocular target.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 6:30 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:02 p.m. CDT. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times.
Venus as an Evening Star
Almanac for Sun, Moon, and Planets
Sun, Moon
Sun: As the equinox nears, daylight at all locations rushes toward 12 hours. At Chicago’s latitude it spans 12 hours, 32 minutes, compared to 12 hours, 20 minutes in Miami. Of the cities followed in these almanacs, Anchorage’s changes in daylight are the most rapid, with daylight lasting 13 hours today. The sun is overhead at local noon at latitude 3° north. South of the equator in Auckland, daylight lasts 11 hours, 48 minutes, compared to 12 hours, 27 minutes in Nashville. Both cities are nearly equidistant from the equator.
Moon: At 30 minutes after sunset, the lunar crescent, 16% illuminated, is 7° above the southwest horizon and 6° to Venus’ upper left. At this level of twilight, earthshine is not easily seen. During this lunation, the Full moon is known as the Harvest Moon.
Inner Planets
Mercury: The Elusive Planet is east of the sun, setting 33 minutes after sunset. This is not a favorable appearance, although it is a pretty sight with Venus and the crescent moon from southern latitudes.
Venus: The Evening Star sets earlier each evening, tonight 66 minutes after sunset. While over 40° from the sun, the ecliptic’s shallow angle with the western horizon places the planet low in the sky after sunset. It shines brightly through evening twilight about 5° above the horizon and to the moon’s lower right. The planet reaches its greatest brilliancy on September 23. Through a telescope, Venus shows an evening crescent phase, 30% illuminated.
Bright Outer Planets
Jupiter and Mars are in the eastern sky before sunrise. An hour before sunrise, bright Jupiter is over 20° above the east horizon. It slowly rambles eastward in front of Cancer and is nearly 15° to Regulus’ upper right, Leo’s brightest star. Mars, nearly halfway from the east horizon to overhead, marches eastward in front of Gemini, 6.2° to Pollux’s lower right, one of the Twins. The Red Planet passes the star in a wide conjunction in three mornings. Mars, moving eastward faster than Jupiter, overtakes the more distant planet on November 16.
Saturn: The third bright outer planet rises in the east over 50 minutes after sunset. By three hours after sundown, it is nearly 25° above the east-southeast horizon. It is high in the south over four hours before sunrise and in the southwest during morning twilight. Saturn retrogrades – appears to move westward – in front of Cetus. The Ringed Wonder nears opposition when it is closest to Earth and at its brightest. Even then, it is about 15% of Jupiter’s visual intensity, but it is the brightest starlike body in the region. The planet’s rings are easy to see through a telescope as well as a view of its southern hemisphere.
Far Outer Planets
Uranus: The Tilted World is visible near the Pleiades star cluster that rides on Taurus’ back. Resembling a miniature dipper, the stellar bundle is high in the south-southeast at two hours before daybreak. Through a binocular, examine the blue-white stars. Then shift the binocular so the cluster is toward the upper right edge of the field of view. Uranus is just outside the lower left edge. Locate the stars 37 Tauri (37 Tau) and 39 Tauri (39 Tau) near the center of the field. Star 37 Tauri is about the same brightness as Uranus. Shift the binocular so the two stars appear to the upper right of center. Find Omega Tauri (ω Tau) to the lower left of center. Aquamarine Uranus is near the center, about one-third of the way from Omega Tauri to 39 Tauri.
Neptune: The Distant Planet is in front of a non-descript Pisces starfield, 10° to Saturn’s west. The planet is very faint, only 0.001% of Saturn’s brightness. If the starfield can be located, Neptune is likely first seen with averted (peripheral) vision through a binocular.
As the equinox nears, locate Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and the moon. Uranus can be found through a binocular, while Neptune is difficult to locate.
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